Last Post Before the Home Tour!

Soooo.... that time has come, the home tour is this weekend! I'm excited, nervous, and I'm already tired thinking about how long I'm going to be standing and schmoozing. But I think it will go well. If you live in the Indianapolis area you should definitely check it out! My house is one of six homes and there are also three buildings. It should be pretty cool. Tickets are available at several Irvington locations (more information here).

In other news, here is what I was able to accomplish before the tour (my original list here, my updated list here):

1) Replace/Get blinds in the living (currently only two of the four windows have blinds). 
2) Hang the TV (I already have the mount).
3) Buy new plants to replace some of mine that are looking sort of sad.
4) Clean, just like, everything.
Bonus items:
* Build sofa table to replace my 'faux' table I created (here). 
* Re-grout shower 
(posts to come about all these projects soon!)

Considering how I was gone for a month and then one-handed for the first five weeks I was home, I'm pretty proud of everything I was able to accomplish. I am excited about the home tour for a lot of reasons but mostly because having my house this clean made me jump on an opportunity I have been thinking about for a while. What is it? Well, you will just have to stay tuned to find out! 

What I Want in My Next House

When I first contacted a realtor about buying a house her first questions to me was, "What are you looking for?" A simple enough question but I really struggled to come up with an answer. She suggested that I make a list of what I wanted in a home. After carefully consideration After five minutes I came up with this list:

Wants:
- In a specific neighborhood (I had one in mind and it helped limit my search)
- One to two bedrooms
- Within my budget
- No major damage or repairs needed (I wasn't afraid of doing cosmetic repairs but I didn't want to get stuck with a crumbling foundation or something)
- A "safe" feeling street

Although I've made a lot of cosmetic changes, this house was basically move in ready.

That was it! I couldn't think of anything else. Honestly, I got really lucky with the house I bought. Not only have I had very few problem, I actually really like this house! But after living here for 18 months I have found that I could definitely make a more complete list of 'wants' for the next time I buy. So for the sake of my memory which is failing me more regularly, here is my current list for what I want in my next house (whenever that may be):

- interior trim that is white (I love that my house has the original trim but decorating with dark trim is challenging at times)
- fenced in yard (this is Bob's only request)
- front porch (I love sitting on my front porch)
- window or door to backyard (my current house only has one window to the back yard in the second bedroom, but I think it would be really nice to have windows and a door directly into the back yard)
- hardwood floors (I love hardwood floors! They are my absolute favorite floor of choice)
- driveway (Currently I have street parking which isn't the worst thing ever but it would be nice to have my own driveway)
- garage (a garage or carport would be nice too!)
- trees (I like older homes so yards with trees is usually standard but it's on the list anyway)
- large windows (My house has pretty great windows so I'd like to keep that feature)
- deck or patio (This isn't necessary but it would be fun to have a place to hang out in the backyard)

I'd like a functional driveway in the front yard and less of a beat up
cement pad in the backyard with no car access, because that's just silly.  

Have you thought about what you want in a house? I've always dreamed about houses but when I came time to actually buy one my mind went blank!

Weekend Project List

I got plans out the wazoo for this weekend:

1) Re-do the ottoman.

I'm tossing around several ideas on how to re-do this thing. Re-upholster? Paint? Leave as is? I don't know, but whatever I do it's happening this weekend. 

2) Deal with this mess:

Why are there so many books piled on my bedroom floor? I'll give you one hint: I sold something in my bedroom. Needless to say, I can't live with all these books everywhere so this weekend I've got to take care of it. What am I going to do? I haven't made up my mind about that yet, but I'll think of something. 

3) If I get extra energy this is happening:

via sweet home style

I don't know where or what or how yet, but it's on my list.

Wish me luck! Oh, and good luck on any project you attempt to do this weekend!

Weekend Update: Ceiling Paint

I wish I could say that I did something awesome with ceiling paint this weekend, like this:

via Apartment Therapy

But sadly I just did a few boring touch-ups. I moved into this house 14.5 months ago and all of these 'spots' have been on my to-do list for oh about 14.25 months. Thankfully, the previous owners left a gallon of ceiling paint in the basement which I finally made myself go down and get this weekend. 

It was ridiculously rusty but the paint inside was still good-to-go after a vigorous shaking (I should have taken it into a hardware store to have it shaken in that machine-thing, but ain't nobody got time for that). 

So after shaking it up, I got my trusty 2" angled brush and I got to work on those spots. 

Spot #1

This spot on the living room ceiling has been there since I moved in and since denial is my best friend I like to think that this spot got there magically and that there is no underlying issue. After a few coats of paint...

Okay, so it's still pretty noticeable, but at least there isn't that ugly yellow ring in the middle.

Spot #2

See that really hideous yellow ring around the dining room chandelier? Yeah, that's been there for a long time. I should have used one of those decorative caps when I had the light installed, but live and learn right?

Much better! I'm so happy that I finally took 10 minutes to do this. I hope no one noticed it before so I don't expect anyone to notice it now, but I know and sometimes that is all that matters. 

Spot #3

This is the kitchen light which I actually did buy a decorative cap for, but sadly, it was too small. Oh well, I knew a little paint would make it look better I just didn't think it would take me 14.25 months to do.

So that was my big weekend project (just kidding it only took me like 30 minutes). 

Did you get any projects done this weekend?

How to Install Floating Cork Floors (Or How to Watch Someone Do That)

Like the parenthetical subtitle suggests, this is not much of a tutorial. I love blogs that go into crazy detail like YHL and Bower Power, but I am not like that. My posts tend to be on the long side, but being detailed is not a strong point for me. So this is a tutorial in the vaguest sense (now I know you're super excited to read it). Also, I apologize in advance for the poor picture quality. We did this mostly at night and I am easily distracted so I didn't remember to take pictures very often. If you want a good tutorial the ones we used are here, here, and here.

Steps to Install a Cork Floor:

1) Hire someone.

The end. Haha just kidding. But no seriously I did hire someone because I had no intention of doing this project on my own. I really wish I was handy enough to do this sort of project but that is currently way beyond my skill set and my tool supply (my fanciest tool is a hand-me-down power drill). So I hired my awesome friend* who has helped me with so many other projects at this house (bathroom tile, medicine cabinet, fence repair, shelf hanging, etc.). Because I am interested in learning how to do this sort of stuff he let me hang around and help him. Turns out I was not helpful at all but it was nice that he let me try.

2) Prep the floor.

Since the linoleum in my kitchen was relatively intact we decided to just leave it down and install the new flooring on top of it. Our first step was to pull up the toe kick around the border of the room.

Like I said the linoleum was mostly intact but around the edge it was pulling up a little so we (I say 'we' but let's be honest I had no idea what I was doing so it was mostly 'he') decided to used a blade to cut the part that was curling up off. 

Despite the bad picture quality you can hopefully see how the linoleum is curling up around the edges in the picture above. He used a blade to trim the raised part off and since linoleum is so thin we were left with a fairly smooth transition.

We also pulled up the thresholds to the basement and back door and the transition into the dining room. We also went around and checked for any missed nails (if we couldn't get them out we hammered them down so the floor was smooth). After cleaning up the debris and sweeping we were on to the next step. 

3) Underlayment. 

The next step was pretty easy and I was still able to help at this point. Because the type of cork I chose is 'floating' meaning it isn't glued or nailed down, the underlayment was very important. I did my research and found that the best one for this type of flooring is the Eco Silent Sound HD Underlayment (someone had a little too much fun naming this product). It was pretty straightforward to lay it down. 

Like I said, not good pictures, but that is what the underlayment looked like after it was all put down. We used a combination of this double sided tape and a staple gun to attach it to the floor. 

Side note: this is what my dining room looked like for a week...

It actually wasn't so bad because my dining room is abnormally big. I sort felt like I was in a ship's kitchen which was cool because who hasn't dreamed about living on a ship? I think I would like living on a ship if I didn't get so crazy sea sick... ah well, in another life maybe. 

4) Install Cork Flooring. 

I chose Lisbon Cork in Rossio from Lumber Liquidators and after a quick look at the instructions we got right into it. 

At this point I became extremely unhelpful. I was basically just leering in the corner offering very unhelpful advice. The main problem we ran into, which I did not take a picture of, is that the tongue and groove where the pieces connect was very fragile and one bad tap and the tongue would crack and then not lay properly. But we he figured it out after a few attempts. This flooring kit was really helpful as was this video. 

5) Finishing touches. 

I didn't even attempt to help at this point because it involved a lot of measuring and sawing but if you want to know how to install a toe kick... uh, Google it. 

Before the toe kick (that black thing is a spacer)

After the toe kick - it makes such a big difference! I didn't even have to repaint which was very nice. 

Another shot before: 

And after:

6) Enjoy your beautiful floor!

I guess I should have at least wiped up the floor before I took pictures, ignore the puppy paw prints...

This floor is Bob approved.  

Though I've only lived with this floor for about two weeks I am 100% happy with it. I highly recommend it! It feels great on my feet and it's easy to wipe clean when necessary. I was initially nervous about getting water on it but I don't really worry about that any more because it hasn't been a problem. Mostly I'm just happy that the beautiful floor further distracts people from noticing the boring countertop and backsplash. 

*It bears repeating... this project was managed and executed by Osborn & Stillman. Specializing in custom furniture, Osborn & Stillman also do built-ins, flooring, countertops, and pretty much anything "wood" you can imagine. Being that they are good friends of mine I heartily recommend that you contact them for any home projects you have in mind. They also did my bathroom tile and medicine cabinet which I'm still in love with. Seriously, check out their website, it'll make you want to burn all of your IKEA furniture. 

The State of the House: One Year Edition

Well, it has been one year (and five weeks) since I moved in to my little house and I have to say, best mistake ever! Why mistake? Honestly, I was not financially prepared to buy a house, but I really wanted one so I did it anyway. There is a saying that goes something like, "Bad decisions make for good stories" and that is literally the story of this blog. I wrote more about my decision to buy over continuing to rent for twentysomethingindy.com. You should check out my article and the rest of the site because it's awesome.

The point is I wasn't completely ready to become a homeowner, but I love this house and in my mind that equals so far so good! I simultaneously feel like I've been here forever and for a month, but it's actually been 13 months. Let's take a look back on all the progress I've made (with the help of friends, family, and hired hands), shall we? Also, bad before pictures because I wasn't a blogger then and for some reason didn't think to take any 'before' pictures, ah well, live and learn.

What I accomplished this year on the outside:

- I had the exterior painted

- While it isn't seen and nobody would notice, the biggest, most expensive thing I had done to this house was a major electrical repair before I moved in. I hate spending money on stuff that isn't seen and appreciated but I guess not dying in a house fire is good too. 

- The backyard fence was repaired (not pictured) 

- I added patio chairs to the front porch (a minor improvement over just plain empty)

- While not a large accomplishment I managed to mow the grass several times... go me!

On the agenda for the coming year and beyond:

- Screen in the front porch (it is already framed and ready)

- Add a daybed or some other type of furniture to make the porch more welcoming

- Dig out and replace those large ugly bushes in front (forsythia is the dream)

- Potentially replace the sidewalk up to my porch

What I accomplished in the living room this year:

- Painted it 'Suede Gray' by Behr

- Added a gallery wall, furniture, art, etc. 

- One thing I managed to 'un-accomplish' was that I broke two of the blinds. Lame. They are those $4 ones from Walmart but I refuse to buy them because they are ugly.

- Added a faux sofa table (here)

On the agenda for this year:

- Buy new blinds! Seriously, it is about time. Those blinds are hideous, but I can't seem to jump on a blind style (more about my indecision here). 

- Get a second couch. I want to get the same couch I already have and put it where the red chair is now. 

- Mount the TV. I got a mount and haven't taken the time to hang it yet. 

- Add art around the TV? 

- I'd like a bigger rug, different coffee table and side tables, a real sofa table instead of a faux one, etc. but I'll just have to see how much my budget can handle this year.

- Rearrange gallery wall, change out pictures, etc. 

What I accomplished this year in the bathroom:

- New tile!

- Installed new medicine cabinet. 

- Painted the room three times (ugh) and it ended up 'Ballet White' by Behr (more on that here). 

- Hung art, towel rack and hook, crates, and a second shower curtain (more on that here). 

- Installed new faucet.

On the agenda this year:

- I'm thinking about painting again, I know, I know, but seriously wouldn't it look beautiful navy blue? I asked my friend that and she said, "isn't every room in your house dark blue?" Touche´. 

- Re-grout the tub and shower. It's gross and a good re-grouting is loooong overdue.

- Change the light fixture. I am really good at cropping out things I don't like so it isn't pictured here but the current one looks something like this and it's fine, but I really want to get something else so hopefully this will be the year. 

What I accomplished this year:

- Painted it twice and it ended up 'Canon' by Ace Hardware (side note: I love the black walls, way more than even I though I would).

- Added art and open shelving.

- Added a chalkboard wall.

- Installed cork floors! (toe kick is not present in these pictures, but it is in now- I need to take pictures again).

- Installed new faux wood white blinds to the windows and the door.

- Installed new light fixture.

On the agenda for this year and beyond:

- New countertops and backsplash (so excited for this!)

- Possibly replace the light? It hangs at about 6'1" and whenever my 6'2" brother comes over he complains about it so maybe I'll lift it up or just change it completely.

- I'd love to add a ceiling light by the chalkboard wall. It is super dark back there at night (and not just because of the black paint, it has always been dark back there). Not sure how much that would cost but it's on my brain.

- I've been thinking about added roman shades or something else to the windows. 

What I accomplished this year:

- Painted it 'Underwater' by Behr.

- Added curtain rod and curtains (here)

- Installed new light fixture

- Added gallery wall

- Added postcard wall art (here)

- Recovered dining room chairs (here)

What I hope to do this year:

- First and foremost I want to get my dream bookcase (here). The wall to the right is blank and sad and I want to change that as soon as possible. 

- I've been thinking about repainting, ugh I know, what is wrong with me? I'm obsessed with painting! But no seriously, I like this color, it's just... I can't put my finger on why I'm tired of it. 

- Re-do or do something completely different with the corner gallery wall, it looks messy and it's a little too much with the postcard wall art (and I really like the postcard wall art).

- Touch up the paint around the light fixture's canopy. I've been meaning to do this for a year, maybe writing it down will make me do it.

- Replace the buffet. It is an IKEA clearance piece that I got for like $40 and I want to replace it with something more solid. 

What I did this year:

- After living with an off-white paint color for six months, I decided I am not a white room kind of person so I went bold and blue by color matching Sherman Williams' 'Loyal Blue' (more on that decision here). 

- Furnished it mostly via craigslist (campaign dresser, jenny lind bed) and IKEA (Rast dresser, Billy bookcase, Knappa light fixture). 

- Hung a light fixture on my own! (here)

What I should accomplish this year:

- I'm really dreading it but the floors seriously need refinished. When I first moved in the bedrooms were carpeted (see the before picture) but since I really hate carpet I ripped it up. The hardwood floors are original to the house and actually look pretty good but in this room they sprayed the trim and since they were planning on putting carpet down they didn't worry about getting white paint on the floors. See the right of the picture above? How the paint comes out about 2-3 inches from the trim? Not cool people who painted the trim, not cool. I may actually tackle this project on my own but we'll see how brave I get.

- I'd love to add curtains or roman shades to this room. The white vinyl blinds in there are fine, but I think an upgrade would be nice.

- If I get my dream bookcase this year I will be moving all the books from this bookcase into that one (plus my books from storage) and then selling this one. I really like this bookcase, but if I have my dream bookcase I really won't need this one. If all that happens I'd like to get a parson's desk for that spot to create a sort of in-room office space. 

What I did this year:

- After being used as a storage unit for 12 months I finally cleared this room out which was a big weekend project.

- I left my daybed, rug, and old dresser in there.

- I craigslisted a desk and bought a chair and lamp set at a used furniture store. (here)

- I painted this room with the left over paint from the kitchen's first paint job, 'Suede Gray' by Behr. (here)

- I DIYed fabric lampshades. (here)

- Added a little bit of art that I already had. (here)

- Cleaning should definitely get it's own bullet point because I did a lot of that in this room.

What should get done this year*:

*My student has only been here two weeks so I haven't decided if I'll keep hosting someone but for now she's there and I won't be doing any projects in this room, but if I don't keep hosting... 

- The hardwood floors in this room also need refinished, although they aren't as bad as my room since the trim in here didn't get painted. 

- Change out the basic light fixture for something a little more fun. 

- Add curtains or different blinds.

- Repaint it a more exciting color. 

Not too bad for 13 months! I'm happy with the progress I'm making. Most of the projects I did this year were lower cost things like painting, getting used furniture from craigslist, and making my own art. I tried to space out the expensive projects (Jan '12- electrical repair, June '2 - bathroom tile, July '12- exterior paint, Feb '13- kitchen floor) and since I did four major projects in 13 months that averages out to about one project every three months. If I continue on that path this year, I hope to do the kitchen countertops, screen in the front porch, refinish the bedroom floors, and upgrade the landscaping in the front - but we'll see what actually gets done!